New UConn class: larger, smarter, more diverse

Updated 9:39 am, Thursday, August 21, 2014

It wasn't twin basketball championships last spring that lured Trumbull High School valedictorian Maneesh Koneru to the University of Connecticut this fall, although he admits he is looking forward to watching games this year at the school's Gampel Pavilion.

It wasn't the price tag, either. Koneru's financial aid package at UConn was on par with others he received. Instead, the pre-med major said it was UConn's new research facilities, its proximity to home and the feeling he got when he visited the spacious campus.

"It was just so open and nice," said Koneru, 17, who is packing to leave for campus Friday.

Apparently, 6,000 others feel the same way.

Despite rising tuition, a falling number of high school seniors and the recent settlement of a lawsuit claiming UConn mishandled sexual assault complaints, university officials will announce Thursday they are welcoming their most diverse and high-achieving freshman class to date.

There are almost 3,600 freshmen and 800 transfer students headed to Storrs, the main campus, and nearly 1,400 freshmen and 200 transfer students bound for UConn's five campuses, including Stamford.

The Class of 2018 is also larger, smarter and more diverse than the one before it.

The average SAT score is 1234, a point higher than last year's class.

About one-third of the class -- 33.8 percent -- are classified as minority students, topping the previous record of 27 percent set last year.

The new class was culled from nearly 32,000 applicants, also a record high, coming despite a continued dip in the number of high school graduates in the state and elsewhere.

"Interest is up across the board," said Nathan Fuerst, UConn's director of undergraduate admissions. "I get lots of emails from potential students talking about the energy of the place."

Universitywide, about 79 percent of students are from Connecticut. On the main Storrs campus, about one-quarter of students are from out of state.

According to Fuerst, it is a sum of many things that has led to the increase, including an increased commitment to science, technology, engineering and math programs, with an infusion of about $1.5 billion over the next 10 years from the state for new buildings and programs.

There is also a new STEM scholars community within UConn's Honors Program to attract students like Koneru, who had several options.

In all, UConn is expecting 169 high school valedictorians and salutatorians, up from 165 in 2013 and 40 in 1995, the year UConn started an ambitious plan to modernize and expand its campus.

The most popular programs among new students are engineering, biology, psychology and business.

The 6.5 percent tuition increase, which sends the UConn price tag to $24,774 for in-state students living on campus, did not appear to scare students away, according to Fuerst. The increased tuition, along with new state STEM money, is being used to hire additional faculty members, officials said. That, presumably, will help more students graduate on time. The current six-year graduation rate at UConn is 83 percent.

Because financial aid packages are still being awarded, he could not say how much the average student will actually pay.

Potential students asked about issues related to campus safety, Fuerst said, but no more than usual and none specifically about last year's lawsuit filed against UConn.

Now Playing:

Last year, a federal lawsuit and Title IX complaint was filed against UConn by several former and current students who charged the university was indifferent to their reported sexual assaults. UConn denied the charges, but in July agreed to pay the plaintiffs $1.3 million to settle the case.

As for basketball, Fuerst points out that the application deadline for the new freshman class closed before UConn's men's and women's basketball teams won national titles in April.